One of the box sets released in commemoration of the centenary of the birth of
Dmitry Shostakovich, this five-disc set of song cycles coupled with the opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District is certainly the most needful for
Shostakovich collectors. After all, there were lots of other sets of the symphonies and string quartets available, but no other sets of the songs, by far the most often overlooked area of his output.
Shostakovich composed few songs early in his career except the passionately pessimistic Japanese Songs, Op. 21, but as his career advanced,
Shostakovich turned more often to the genre as a means of self-expression as in, for example, the extravagantly emotional Pushkin Songs, Op. 46, and the extremely excruciating Jewish Songs, Op. 79a. And by the end of his career,
Shostakovich was writing song cycles as often as string quartets with the deeply sensuous Blok Songs, Op. 127, followed by the achingly nostalgic Tsvetayeva Songs, Op. 143a, the extraordinarily intimate Michelangelo Songs, Op. 145a, and finally the nihilistically ironic Lebyadkin Songs, Op. 146a.
For the most part, the performances on these five discs are quite fine and occasionally they are better than that. Two of the discs and seven of the cycles were directed by
Neeme Järvi leading the
Gothenburg Symphony and featured some of the best second-tier singers of the late '90s -- soprano
Luba Orgonasova, mezzo-soprano Larissa Diakova, contralto
Nathalie Stutzmann, and tenor
Philip Langridge -- along with arguably the best Russian bass-baritone of his generation, the commanding
Sergei Leiferkus. One of the discs and three of the cycles were directed by pianist
Vladimir Ashkenazy and featured a persuasive if chilling performance of the Blok Songs by
Elisabeth Söderström, a convincing if tired performance of the Michelangelo Songs by
John Shirley-Quirk and a compelling if bizarre performance of the Lebyadkin Songs by
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, inarguably the best baritone of his generation of any nationality. The remaining two discs are filled with a harrowing if not always thoroughly convincing performance of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District directed by
Myung-Whun Chung leading the Orchestre de l'Opéra Bastille and featuring the often excessive but never less than arresting
Maria Ewing in the title role. Minimally remastered, the Deutsche Grammophon originals are clear, close, and just about real. For
Shostakovich collectors, these discs will be mandatory.